James Potter and the thief
by Collin Philipps
Summary: Before entering Hogwarts, James Potter must rely on his wits as well as his brother Albus' help to capture an elusive thief that the Ministry of Magic has been looking for.
1. Chapter 1: The Elusive Thief

The Elusive Thief

It was a peaceful night, the only peaceful night in weeks. For days Harry was flooded with work down at the Auror's office. The recent increase in crime rate has definitely garnered the attention of the Ministry of Magic, as well as made him miss dinner with his family for five nights in a row, but tonight Harry had gotten off work early in order to accompany his son James to King's Cross Station for his first day of school at Hogwarts.

All the preparations had been made and James was now in bed, which meant Harry had now been able to do something he hadn't done in a long time; relax.

Harry sat on his favourite chair in the living room of Number 12 Grimwauld Place right beside the unlit fireplace. After taking a sip out of his tea he read the front page of the_ Daily Prophet. _

**ELUSIVE THIEF STEALS PRICELESS POSSESIONS.**

Wyndham Frost, a notorious criminal who uses magic to aid him in various attempts of theft against muggles has reportedly stolen plenty of priceless muggle possessions. Items reportedly stolen include: diamonds, jewellery, gold, silver, and an infamous muggle painting known as, the _Mona Lisa_.

The muggle prime minister is outraged and demands that the Ministry of Magic deals with its own criminals and expects the safe return of all stolen possessions. Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebot assures the Prime Minister that all his demands will be met and that the Auror Office was doing everything they can to apprehend the thief. All of London is on red alert concerning the capture of this criminal who has managed to escape custody five times.

**Continue on page 2**

Above the article was a picture of the thief he spent all week tracking. He has black, curly and messy hair with streaks of white and a large pointy nose. He looks as if he's in his mid-forties.

Harry was just about to turn the page when he heard a ruckus upstairs that sounded like his children arguing about something. "Why should you get to keep it" said a voice which sounded like it came from his youngest son Albus.

"Because I am the oldest" said James.

"Well how about me?" replied Lily. "Don't I get to use it?"

"You can't you're a girl." said James. Those were the last things they said before they started screaming and yelling at each other.

With a sigh Harry put down the paper and went straight to his children's bedrooms to halt the conflict. Deep inside he knew he wasn't going to be able to just sit down and relax.

Before Harry could make it to the fifth step he could hear the sound of feet rushing down towards him. It was his daughter Lily and she was crying.

Lily hugged her father and told him everything. She told him that her brothers James and Albus had gotten in an argument over who would get to keep Harry's old broomstick that he used in Hogwarts which was now hung in the attic. James and Albus had told her that she couldn't use the broom because she was a girl. This sent her crying and before they knew it she stormed off and went to tell their dad.

With frustration Harry called for his sons. "James, Albus get down here this instant!" he said. The two boys came down with an anxious look on their faces.

"Both of you apologize to your sister right now" he demanded.

"But dad it was James who started it, he was the one who kept on bragging about how you said he could have the Firebolt." said Albus.

"First of all, I'm not giving the Firebolt to anyone, it stays in the attic, and James you're a first year, you're not allowed to own a broomstick yet." said Harry.

"But mum said you got yours when you were still a first year" replied James.

Harry was at a loss for words. "Well that's because...um...well...that's not the point. He said. Inside the kitchen he could see his wife who had been listening the whole time with a huge grin on her face.

Harry continued the conversation. "If you excel in your flying lessons I will buy you a broom on your second year"."A Flashbolt 2000!" said James ecstatically. "I said I'd buy you a broom, I didn't say I'd throw all our galleons down the drain" retorted Harry. "You'll start with a Firebolt 2000". James was disappointed but agreed with the conditions.

Now that things were settled Harry ordered the children back to bed and picked up the _Daily Prophet _to continue where he had left off.


	2. Chapter 2: James' Plan

James's plan

Ginny was in a frenzy. On their way to King's Cross station she had been smothering James as if he was going to leave her forever. Aside from that she had been pestering him to write to them every day to make sure he was all right.

"Mum, I can't write to you every single day. All the other students would make fun of me for being a momma's boy." said an annoyed James.

The car had been neatly parked right outside King's Cross, but before James could get out of the car his mother ambushed him and kissed him repeatedly on the cheek. Albus, and Lily were giggling nonstop. James finally broke free of his mother's deadly hug and went ahead of them with his dad.

The Potters made their way to Platform Nine and three quarters. They were an hour early before the train would arrive. Harry went around catching up with old friends. While the three bored children sat in a chair.

James stared blankly at empty space and was surprised to see his Uncle Ron and aunt Hermione drop by to say goodbye. As soon as Harry came back he, Ron, and Hermione were wrapped up in a conversation.

"What are you lot doing here"

"We just came to say goodbye to our little nephew." said Hermione

"Actually I just wanted to get off work like you." Whispered Ron to Harry's ear,

"The entire office is fed up with the business regarding that bloke Wyndham Frost. The Prime Minister is getting angrier and angrier every time we don't find this man."

The three adults continued their discussion. While James got up, grabbed his backpack and left Platform Nine and three quarters.

Albus noticed his brother's absence and went off to find him. He eventually saw James heading towards the platform's exit. Hesitantly he followed his him to the exit.

"James what are you doing?"

"Figured we have some time left, so might as well do something fun."

James showed Albus a backpack filled with items from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. He managed to sneak it by his parents by covering it with Harry's old invisibility cloak which he found in the attic.

"So what will it be the _Bug Bomb_ or the _Multiplying Marble_." The _Bug Bomb_ was an enchanted wind-up toy (either a cockroach or spider). If you turned the wind up key the toy would crawl away and transform into a swarm of insects. The _Multiplying Marble _was a marble that multiplied whenever you say _multiplico._ It's perfect for making people slip or fall.

Albus was uneasy with the idea of James pulling pranks on muggles, but he realized that there was nothing that could stop him from doing something troublesome.

As James was about to release the _Bug Bomb _on poor unsuspecting muggles a man bumped into him knocking him to the floor.

"Terribly sorry lad." said the man. He helped James up and checked for any signs of him getting hurt.

"Are you alright?" said the man.

"I'm fine, sir." replied James.

He stared at the man's face. Something about him looked familiar. He was obviously Forty-Five and he had black curly hair with some streaks of white, but his most unusual feature was his long and pointy nose.

The man took off. James took some time to remember who the mystery man was and why he seemed so familiar. Then it hit him. He knew who the man was.

"Al, it's him, I know it's him."

'Him who?" said Albus

"It's Wyndham Frost, the thief that dad and Uncle Ron have been looking for. I read about him in the paper"

"You read the paper?" said a surprised Albus. James snared at him.

"Well, should we tell dad?"

With a mischievous grin on his face James thought of an idea. "Or we could find him and bring him in ourselves"

"James you are mad."

"Al I'm doing this with or without you."

Al felt hesitant but he had to keep his brother out of trouble so he agreed.

"Don't worry I have a plan." said James

Wyndham Frost was extremely proud of himself. For years he had been a brilliant thief who used magic to take from unsuspecting muggles. Even though he had been caught many times he always managed to break free and elude the law time and time again. He was so sure of his abilities that he had attempted one of the most daring thefts in history which was to steal Da Vinci's _Mona Lisa _from the Louvre. He loved to see the faces on those poor muggles when the famous painting "disappeared" from the wall.

Today he did something extremely risky to test his abilities. He went to King's Cross station to steal from the muggles boarding the train and see if any of the aurors there could catch him. So far he had taken wallets, expensive watches, and jewellery but the only thing that mattered was to make fools of the muggles and the Ministry of Magic.

Over the distance he spotted a boy all by himself. On his wrist was a solid gold watch. It must have belonged to his father or grandfather. It looked extremely expensive. He knew he had to take it.

"Ok Al, listen up here's the plan. First hand me your watch" dictated James. Albus did as his brother commanded and handed him his digital Mickey Mouse watch.

Then James rummaged through his backpack and took out a small can of paint and a brush. The paint wasn't ordinary paint though. It was the _Solid gold paint _from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It could temporarily turn any object into solid gold. Carefully he painted the entire watch gold and then returned it to Al.

"This man likes to steal from muggles, right? so take this and try showing it to everyone. I'll follow you using the invisibility cloak to see if our bait worked" James explained.

Albus followed James's plan and walked around King's Cross awkwardly showcasing the gold watch, while James scoured the area in search of Wyndham Frost. They circled the entire area but still couldn't find the thief. After a while he gave up and they both decided to go back to Platform Nine and three-quarters to tell their dad.

When they reached Platform 11 James spotted a man heading towards his direction. He stepped aside and stooped in his tracks to observe the man. As the man came closer to Albus he looked closely and spotted a wand protruding from his pockets.

Without him even noticing it Albus's watch unlatched and levitated out of his wrist. James quickly tapped his shoulder to signal that their bait worked.

Albus turned around and saw the thief and quickly took back his watch. The thief tried to run but the unseen James tripped him. Now He had gotten angry and pointed his wand at Albus and red sparks came out of it. James pushed his brother out of the way and the red sparks knocked him to the floor. Albus took off the invisibility cloak and checked on James. He was alright but now the thief was chasing the angrily. The two boys looked at each other and ran.

They ran fast, but Wyndham Frost was catching. Without a moment of thought Albus threw the _Multiplying Marble_ on the floor and said _Multiplico!_. The single marble multiplied into twenty which made the thief slip and fall, but he got up on his feet and was now gushing with anger. Frost continued his pursuit of the two boys, but they were not out of tricks yet. While running James winded up the key and released the _Bug Bomb. _The toy crawled a short distance then scattered into dozens of crawling roaches. Soon the muggles were screaming and panicking. They all ran towards the same direction as Wyndham Frost effectively slowing him down. James and Albus finally stopped and caught a breath.

"So what's the rest of the plan?" asked Albus.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I'm making this up as we go."

Suddenly Frost came out of nowhere and shouted _Levicorpus!_ James was hung upside down in the air as if strings were attached to his feet. Albus managed to escape and immediately put on the invisibility cloak.


	3. Chapter 3: The Capture

The Capture

"You have humiliated me for the last time, boy!" he shouted angrily. He pointed his wand at James. _Cru!-_, but before he could finish Albus pushed a trolley that smacked into him. The spell wore of and James fell on Albus. They quickly got up but so did Frost. He grabbed his wand to cast a spell but failed to notice that Albus had replaced his wand with a fake.

"Looking for this?" said Albus mockingly. He sheld up his wand for him to see then bolted. James and Albus ran as fast as their legs could take them heading towards platform Nine and three-quarters.

"You stole from a thief? There could be hope for you yet." said James.

The thief blinded by rage failed to realize that he was walking into a trap. James and Albus passed through the barrier leading to platform Nine and three-quarters. The thief followed.

_Stupefy!_ Blue sparks shot out of Harry Potter's wand knocking Frost out.

"James, Albus what is going on?" said Ginny.

"Mate, look" said Ron

Harry stared at the man he knocked out and was taken aback. "Is that who I think it is?" Harry stared at his sons. James and Albus smiled and nodded.

"All Aboard the Hogwarts Express!" shouted the conductor. James had nearly forgotten the time during their adventure. As Ron and a small group of aurors took care of Wyndham Frost James said goodbye to his family and boarded the train to Hogwarts.


End file.
